The present invention relates to systems, methods and apparatus for piercing. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing increased incentive to people who have recently had their ears, or other body parts, pierced to follow the prescribed healing regimen before removing the post from their ear. The principles of the present invention may also be applied to ongoing preventative health maintenance of pierced ears.
While pierced earrings are the most popular version of earring available, they do require that a hole be made in the ear (e.g., the earlobe, ear cartilage). It is well known that the recommended follow-up procedure for new piercings is to keep the inserted post in the ear for a prescribed healing regimen that, typically, exceeds one month, and may be as long as three months. Moreover, the follow-up procedure also typically calls for at least a daily rotation of the post so that the healed portion of the ear does not adhere to the post. The equipment used to pierce ears, such as that described in Mann U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,507, entitled "Sterile Earlobe-piercing Assembly", often utilizes a decorative part of the new earring that is commonly a small, simple, ball-shaped ornament.
One of the reasons individuals get their ears pierced, however, is a desire to use many highly decorative, different-sized earrings, which frequently results in people prematurely removing the "starter" earring that was inserted as part of the piercing process. For example, health problems such as infections may result in the premature use of non-sterile earrings that may be made from, for example, lesser quality metals that may have a more severe effect on the healing portion of the ear than would be experienced by a long time pierced earring user (typical "first-time" earrings are often made of relatively pure, high quality materials such as gold). This, unfortunately, can lead to infection and discomfort which, if not addressed in a timely manner, may result both in health problems for the individual, and the loss of a pierced earring customer for the jewelry industry.
Similar problems also may occur with individuals who do not wear their pierced earrings on a regular basis. Under these circumstances, the pierced hole may begin to close, or it may become easily infected from the infrequent insertion of earring posts into the pierced hole.
Other individuals have attempted to resolve these problems. For example, Ferro U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,507 describes methods of varying an ornamental element of an earring. Ferro describes an earring post having a mechanical means at one end for attaching and detaching ornamental elements. Ferro, however, requires that the post have, at the non-ornamental end, a disc which acts as the earring backing. Thus, the post itself is inserted into the ear after the ear has been pierced. Moreover, Ferro utilizes an interlocking mechanism for attaching and detaching the ornamental element, which may result in the post being inadvertently removed from the pierced hole while changing the ornamental element. Even if the post is not removed, the manipulation required to attach and detach the ornamental element can cause inadvertent bleeding and tearing of the tender, newly pierced, delicate tissue.
Hernandez U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,974 describes re-attachable break-a-way ornaments and necklaces. These devices include a post having one end that passes through the pierced hole and is attached to a conventional backing behind the earlobe. The other end includes a male connector or iron core that may be removably attached to a necklace or other ornamental element. Hernandez is not a piercing earring. Moreover, Hernandez, like Ferro, utilizes a post that is inserted into the pierced hole subsequent to the piercing procedure. This may result in discomfort, pain or even infection occurring in the newly pierced ear. Moreover, Hernandez's mechanical interlock also may result in inadvertently withdrawing the post from the ear during ornamental changes, or even long after the healing process is complete.
Erickson U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,036 also describes a pierced-ear earring with changeable decorative earring elements. Erickson, like Ferro, describes a mechanical interlock for attaching the ornamental element to the post. Moreover, Erickson requires that the attachment mechanism be screwed on and unscrewed from both ends of the post, which may result in the post being inadvertently withdrawn from the pierced hole during ornamental element changes.
Thomas U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,516 describes an ear piercing device and method that "allow[s] conventional earring posts to be interchangeably inserted into and withdrawn from the pierced ear throughout the healing process" (see Abstract). Thomas, unlike Ferro and Hernandez, utilizes a post that remains in the pierced hole during the healing process. That post, however, is a hollow tube having a substantially larger diameter than conventional piercing posts. The hollow tube presents two potential problems. First, the larger tube creates a larger diameter wound than would otherwise be necessary. This may result in a larger than desired hole in the ear. Seccond, unless the tube sticks sufficiently far enough out of the pierced cavity, the user will be unable to perform the daily rotation required during the healing process. Once the tube is in place, a rubber plug is inserted into an even larger cavity that is positioned on the ear lobe over the pierced hole. The conventional post is then inserted into the rubber plug, which retains the conventional post via friction. This method, however, also may be prone to inadvertent removal of the hollow post if too much force is applied during withdrawal, and may cause tearing of the delicate tissue during the healing process. Further, the presence of bodily fluids and antiseptic solutions may reduce the frictional grasp of the rubber plug, causing additional problems.
For at least the above reasons, it is an object of the present invention to provide ear piercing methods and apparatus that enable a user to easily change ornamental earring elements during the healing period after ear piercing has occurred.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide ear piercing methods and apparatus that utilize a post for piercing that remains secured within the pierced hole during the healing period.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide ear piercing methods and apparatus that permit a user to easily remove and replace ornamental earring elements with a minimum of force so that the earring post remains within the pierced hole.
It is an additional object of the present invention to allow a user to wear a wide variety of larger, more delicate, non-metallic, or asymmetrical decorations during the healing regimen.